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© Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.Japan pulls out of Copa America
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LostinNagoya
Power to the Samurai Blue. It seems that Spagna has invited herself to Copa America, replacing Japan. A pity USA can't make it.
kyushujoe
And how, exactly, will pulling out of the tournament help the country achieve this? Are the players all going to work in hospitals and on construction sites?
A very empty gesture.
smithinjapan
kyushujoe: I was wondering the exact same thing. If it's a matter of money I can understand, so long as it's actually going towards rebuilding instead of the team for Copa America, but beyond that I can't understand how this helps things.
LostinNagoya
I can understand Japanese mind on this: they see Copa America as a joyful event, a time to learn thru sports. Joy? Something that citizens may be able to appreciate discreetly after the tsunami, but not something that an official representation of Japan could do within, say, six months. It is called respect.
kyushujoe
@LostinNagoya
Yes. That I entirely understand. But look again at Ogura's explanation:
“The priority at this moment is to continue saving lives and rebuilding the country after the earthquake and tsunami,”
Hence my question: How is pulling out of the tournament going to help achieve this priority?
LostinNagoya
@kyushujoe. Perhaps he was hinting at gov't expenses, I think.
kyushujoe
@Lost
Yep. That's probably it :)
rockbuster
I think that the main reason Japan is not going to the Copa America is that the J-League will be played during the same time.
The original idea was that the J-League would take a one month break in order to allow the players to play, and to not penalize the teams who had players playing for the national team. But since no J-League games will be played until April 23rd (I think), it is now unfeasible to have a break in July.
smithinjapan
LostinNagoya: "@kyushujoe. Perhaps he was hinting at gov't expenses, I think."
So if he was hinting at government expenses how do you claim it's 'respect'? They didn't cancel Koshien out of respect, did they?
This accomplishes nothing.
nath
rockbuster has it, it just isn't possible to participate as planned, now that so much has had to be changed in regard to football domestically.
daftlife25
I saw this on the newsbar on CNN and was a bit surprised. Bad choice, in my opinion. People watching the matches would help lift spirits, especially since the Japanese team has been doing so well lately (winning the Asian Cup and being ranked so high again).
rockbuster
I can see both sides of the argument, but I think the J-League should take precedence here. If Japan went to the Copa America, then teams with players there would effectively be punished for having national team players by playing important J-League games with weakened sides.
You could get around that, I suppose, by saying that the squad should be made up from two players from each J1 team, but some positions are easier to cover than others - goalkeeper, for example. Hopefully they will be invited again in the future.
BurakuminDes
Ogura makes no sense. If he wants everyone to "focus on saving lives and rebuilding" - why not cancel the J-League too? Just admit it was cancelled due to schedule clashes - not some other bogus reason.